‘Outrage’ over migrant holding sites
Rep. Delgado calls for immigration reform, more border oversight
U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado said Monday that the country needs to get serious about immigration reform and impose more oversight of what’s happening on its borders.
During a call with reporters, Delgado, responding to questions about the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border and in migrant detention centers, said: “I share in the outrage people have expressed over the horrifying treatment of our fellow human beings. I find it unconscionable.”
Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, who represents New York’s 19th Congressional District, spoke in the wake of a government inspector general last week issuing a report about squalid and dangerously overcrowded conditions at Border Patrol holding centers, particularly in Texas.
The congressman said migrants need to be treated with dignity, humanity and compassion, which includes providing them with safe and sanitary conditions that are required by law. He said any facility that would not provide those things has no place in America.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee is to hold a hearing this week about the border situation, including the separation of migrant families and the treatment of migrant children.
“I think this kind of increased oversight is of paramount importance,” Delgado said. “I look forward to hearing the testimony at the hearing.” “I have a lot of concerns with the
ways in which the [Trump] administration has dealt with the flow of migrant workers and those seeking asylum,” Delgado said in response to the question about detention centers. “I find the approach has been deeply problematic, deeply insensitive to those seeking a better way of life.”
He said a better approach would be to make sure the country has the appropriate resources and funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to process asylum claims and provide shelter and care to those seeking asylum.
On July 2, demonstrators gathered outside Delgado’s district office in Kingston for one of many “Close the Camps” protests held at congressional members’ offices across the United States. They demanded the congressman visit a detention center, work to close the centers, reject any federal funding for family detention and deportation, and work to reunite families.
The Kingston crowd, numbering about 100, was critical of Delgado’s vote in favor of a $4.5 billion border funding bill that aims to improve conditions for detained migrants. Protest speaker Steve Greenfield, who ran against Delgado in 2018 on the Green Party line, said the vote for funding was a vote “for Donald Trump to build $4.5 billion worth of camps for the profits of private investors.”
Delgado says after the bill was approved that he “voted with my colleagues to support the young children suffering at our border, and I will continue to call on the administration to urgently improve conditions at these facilities.”
On other topics during Monday’s call, Delgado described his efforts during his most recent in-district work week, which included meeting with constituents who had responded to a survey about priorities released by his office, as well as visits with veterans agencies and farmers.
Asked about ongoing talks among Democrats regarding possible impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, Delgado said: “My thoughts are we need to continue as we have been, which is to aggressively investigate.”
He called the planned upcoming testimony by special counsel Robert Mueller before a House committee a good development.